My 9-year-old cat has a bladder mass. What are biopsy options?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Milly. I will typically start with a procedure known as a fine needle aspirate. I use a small needle to collect a sample of cells to evaluate under the microscope. This can help to diagnose the mass. It is not as accurate as a biopsy, but it generally gives a lot of information. The cat needs to hold still and cooperate though. So cats are different to draw blood on awake. This may have been why the recommendation was made to anesthetize her and collect all the samples at once. I hope this information helps!

I'm sorry Guinness has a tumor! Yes, it would be a good idea to have a fine needle aspirate (FNA) of the mass between his stomach and bladder. This will help identify if this is malignant or not, and what treatment may need to be done. To do this, the vet sticks a small needle into the lump to get a sample of it's cells, and examines the cells on a slide under a microscope. It's usually painless to the animal, and relatively quick to perform, so it won't be an invasive procedure. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Thanks for such detailed information. Cytology is rarely diagnostic for this disease so I would still be suspicious that a malignant tumor such as TCC is much more likely. This is because of what you described but also due to the fact that this is way more common than benign tumors of the bladder. There is a test that your veterinarian could consider which is easy to perform and is non-invasive. This is also very sensitive and specific meaning that typically a negative or a positive result can be trusted. This is called the BRAF test which is performed with a urine sample. Good luck and have a great day!

You could take your cat to an internal medicine veterinary specialist for an ultrasound and/or other diagnostics to help get a definitive diagnosis. A specialist has more training then a regular veterinarian so may be able to read the ultrasound better. If you can't do that then you could try the anti-inflammatory and see if that helps. Your vet can monitor kidney function while on the anti-inflammatory. Hope she gets better soon.

It really depends on the location of the tumor in the bladder. If the tumor is located near vital structures like the ureter or urethra than it will be extremely difficult to remove the tumor. You could take her to a veterinary specialist (oncologist and/or a surgeon) for a second opinion to determine the best way to treat. Radiation and/or chemotherapy may be help.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am sorry that Max has a lump. FNA (Fine needle aspirate) is the name of the procedure your vet performed. Some types of cancers, including Mast Cell Tumors, will exfoliate (give off) a lot of cells when this procedure is performed, and have a very classic appearance under the microscope. Therefore yes, this is a proper procedure and diagnostic test. I would recommend that you chat with your vet about staging (looking to see if the cancer has spread to other locations of the body- usually using ultrasound and chest x-rays), and if it has not, have the tumor removed. Ensure you chat with your vet about if they are comfortable doing the surgery to get proper margins (3cm diameter and 3 facial planes) or if a surgical specialist is required. This will depend on the location of the mass. Best of luck with Max, hopefully it is a low grade and will be cured with surgery!

I think a biopsy is worth doing, it's relatively very brief and non invasive, it will give you an answer regarding the type of tumor, this way you can know for sure if there is any hope. from the sound of it though, it's probably a malignant tumor and there is probably nothing that can be done to stop it or treat it, at some point you will need to stop the tests and accept it.